North Carolina Crime Labs Helped Jail Innocent People -- So Where's the Reform?

Last week, officials in North Carolina announced a crime lab analyst near the center of recent controversy was fired. Some began questioning just how meaningful the termination was and what other steps were being taken towards reform. But as soon as questions formed on their lips, Attorney General Roy Cooper held a press conference extolling the reported strides the state is making.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) Crime Labs has been in the local spotlight for over six months now after a scathing audit of the DNA unit brought numerous problems into the spotlight. After national media attention and overturned convictions, people have been pushing Cooper to make significant changes, though they've seemed to be very slow in coming.

Following the February 2010 exoneration of Greg Taylor, wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, Attorney General Roy Cooper ordered an audit of the state’s DNA crime lab. Taylor’s case indicated a culture of bad science at the lab, a place where it seemed commonplace for analysts to withhold blood evidence that could exonerate defendants. The audit would uncover more than 200 cases where the SBI withheld or distorted such evidence, 80 of which involved people still serving time for convictions that may have otherwise been avoided.

Of the 229 cases named in the audit with clear problems, 40 had no suspects. The remaining cases have been distributed to district attorneys across the state for in-depth reviews. SBI Director Greg McLeod states he has received letters from local DA’s in regards to several of the cases that need no further action, finding the lab problems did not impact justice. He projects receiving several more letters of such findings in coming months.

However, immediately after the audit’s findings in August, AG Cooper spoke out pledging meaningful change and reform, saying the culture of the SBI would change beginning with the appointment of a new SBI crime lab director. To date, that position has not been filled. Cooper has also failed to conduct a full-fledged audit of the entire SBI crime lab system -- something that has been recommended from the start.

One analyst at the center of five of what auditors termed the "most troubling” 200 tainted cases, Duane Deever, was recently fired. He was the agent responsible for leaving out evidence in the Greg Taylor case that could’ve prevented his wrongful conviction. While tests in the field pointed to blood on the side of Taylor’s SUV, that substance would later test negative for blood. Instead of mentioning these further tests that cast doubt on the prosecutor’s case against Taylor, Deever simply left these details out of his report. He was further accused of giving misleading testimony.

There’s no question that Deaver needed to go and while it probably shouldn’t have taken this long, Christine Mumma of the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence hits the nail on the head when she says “this is an act of throwing the employee under the bus while those responsible for giving the employee direction and approving his work walk away unscathed.” In other words, one meaningful step towards accountability shouldn’t excuse officials from making the drastic changes necessary to restore integrity to the N.C. SBI labs.

Steps need to be taken to ensure that the public can trust the SBI labs are dedicated to true justice and not simply convictions. So far, over 800 Change.org members have told the state of North Carolina to transform their current crime lab culture from one of convictions to one of integrity. Join them. Let Attorney General Roy Cooper know that we have not forgotten about his pledged promises and though some steps have been taken, not enough has been done. All SBI labs must be audited thoroughly and measures must be put in place to prevent such miscarriages of justice in the future.

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Photo Credit: Col Ford and Natasha de Vere